Spirits Lost, Spirits Found, Spirits Rekindled
by Shirley Ann Burton
Summary: A mysterious spin at the Wheel of Excitement leaves four neopets and their owner with a surprise, especially when the owner's spirit goes on a downward spiral.


Spirits Lost…Spirits Found…Spirits Rekindled   
By: Shirley Ann Burton

**Author's Note:**   
** This story is inspired by an actual spin at the Wheel of Excitement and by _silverstar_'s story, "The Magic Within." In addition, I wish to dedicate this story with love and respect to all the people whose lives were affected by the tragic events of September 11, 2001.**   
** This is also my first ever attempt at a Neopet-related story. Please e-mail me with your comments, as I will accept positive and negative comments. And one more thing, the four images you will see were courtesy of neopets.com.**

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is MagicForceFlare, and I am an eyrie. I was originally red, but my owner decided to make me into a shade of electric blue, which totally rocks in my book. I'm the youngest of the four neopets, but our owner treats us more like brothers and sisters. To me, that's totally cool. She looks after all of us carefully, making sure we're all well-fed and taken care of, especially in terms of keeping us all healthy. When one of us gets sick, she'll go out of her way to make sure that one immediately gets better.   
In our family of pets, I'm one of two pets created by our owner. The other is the oldest of us. Magicoddball26, a beautiful sky-blue female kougra, was the owner's first pet, one true to our owner's spirit and personality. There are also two adopted members of the family, but they are treated with the same amount of love. GotMilk247, a yellow kau, and MissLIttleShortness, originally a yellow chia but changed to purple thanks to the paintbrush, were both adopted from the Neopian Pound by our owner. We know she has a whole lot of spirit, but there was a time where it seemed her spirit became lost, and all of us were able to come together…   


It began when our owner took all of us up to Faerieland and went to the Wheel of Excitement. She would always hope to win 10,000 neopoints, which would certainly help in our budget. She had entered Neopia just a couple of months earlier, and she already earned over 100,000 points, the result of careful playing, planning, and all four of us succeeding in our jobs at the Faerieland Employment Agency. MissLIttle did the best job out of us, earning over 600 points for a successful job. We were all happy that she cared for us equally, making sure we were all at the same level, had the same number of abilities, just everything she could do to make sure we were taken care of with equality and kindness.   
On this particular day, we all got to the Wheel, where we were happily greeted by the Light Faerie. "Hello, all. It's good to see you again."   
Our owner smiled. "Good to see you, too, friend. How's the Dark Faerie? I heard she had an injury the other day."   
"Yes, she did. She accidentally twisted her ankle when she spun the wheel. She was a bit upset, but decided the best thing to do was rest. After all, she's worked here every day for the past seven weeks without a rest. Now she'll have to rest whether she likes it or not."   
Magicoddball laughed about it. "She needs to be more careful."   
"Agreed," said GotMilk in a giggle.   
"So," the Light Faerie stated, "Ready to try to win again, Shirley?"   
"You know it." Shirley, our owner, gave the Light Faerie the required 100 neopoints to play the Wheel of Excitement. "Let's see if I can get something other than struck by lightning or have one of my pet pals get sick."   
The Light Faerie laughed heartily. "Well, you've never won the 10,000 on here, but I heard you did win 10,000 neopoints somewhere. I believe it was the at the Neopets Fruit Machine over at Sakhmet in the Lost Desert."   
"It's true," she blushed. "Hasn't happened since, but it's okay. I'm still doing things the old-fashioned way…I _earn_ them."   
"Okay, here we go." The Light Faerie went on to spin the wheel, and all five of us were getting anxious.   
Amazingly, it took about two minutes for the wheel to finally stop.   
When it did come to a stop, it landed on "secret item." Of course, none of us knew what that meant, since anything could have happened.   
The Light Faerie then did something unusual to all of us. She seemed to have cast some sort of spell on not only us but also on our owner Shirley.   
The funny thing was, none of us felt any different than before.   
Shirley was first to notice. "Oh, well, at least the 100 neopoints will be put to good use somehow. Let's head back to the house, gang."   
As we started leaving, the Light Faerie said, "Take a look within your refrigerator," but then she seemed to have whispered, "but also take a look somewhere else."   
Both Shirley and I had enough sensitive hearing to hear her whispered message.   
We looked at each other. "Um, I don't understand what she meant by that."   
"With the faeries," she said in a straightforward manner, "you can never tell what could happen. Let's keep that second part of the message in mind, okay?"   
"Sure thing."   
With that, we all went back to our little home.   
Our home was slowly growing, as Shirley was able to invest some of the points into building a humble home for all of us. She decided not to overdo anything, not be excessive. She believed in hard work herself, seeing she had a good job in her world.   
She went to the refrigerator and checked to see if anything had changed. She then noticed a jar of pickled olives. "Hmm, that's nice, but I have a good idea the gang won't like this."   
She took the jar out and showed it to all of us. "Listen, everyone. I need to ask you a question. Um, should I put this in the shop and sell this?"   
"Yes!" we all shouted at the same time.   
I added, "Shirley, I don't think even you like olives."   
"You're right, MagicForce. I won't even eat olives on pizza. I'll definitely put this into the shop and sell it." She then went out of the house to sell her olives. "I'll be back in a few minutes."   
All four of us smiled.   
"Hey, MagicForce," MissLIttle stated, "how 'bout you and me play crazy cars with the toy car and the monkey puppet?"   
"Okay, you're on. I'll get the monkey puppet from the toy chest."   
Believe me, we all loved each other that much, but something our owner went through would bring us much closer…   


It had been about a week after the mysterious spin at the Wheel of Excitement. Shirley had arrived at our home early in the afternoon, but it seemed her spirits weren't as high as they'd normally be.   
I was the first to notice. "Um, Shirley, you okay? You don't seem like yourself."   
"Huh?" she said as her mind returned to reality. "Yeah…I'm fine. I'd better get some omelette for you guys, and I'm gonna shop around for some other food and maybe some new toys, too. I'll be back in about an hour."   
When she walked out, we became rather concerned.   
Magicoddball said, "Something isn't right here. She seems a bit more tense. But…why?"   
"Good question," MissLIttle said in slight worry. Even her usual chia smile wasn't there this time. "I wonder if something happened to her, but she won't tell us?"   
GotMilk then added, "Or maybe it's us. Maybe we've done something wrong."   
"Never!" I snapped at the kau. "Shirley's taken care of all of us since she moved into the neighborhood, she's assisted others who needed help, and the like. Maybe she just had a bad day at work. I—wait a minute, she said she was _off_ from work for all this week."   
"You're right," Magicoddball noted seriously. "Perhaps it's a personal problem she wants to deal with by herself."   
"But…we're here for her," said MissLIttle. "We can help her if she'll let us."   
"I don't know what to do," I said, but then I remembered something the Light Faerie said before. _Also take a look somewhere else,_ I recalled in my mind. "Look somewhere else," I whispered.   
"What'd you say?" GotMilk asked.   
I looked at my older brother. "I remember, Shirley and I both heard the Light Faerie whisper, 'Take a look somewhere else.' I wonder if it's something _besides_ the pickled olives that appeared in the refrigerator." 

After Shirley finished shopping at the food shop and various other places in the Marketplace, she walked far slower and her face started going down in complete shame. She quickly paced into a dark and lonely alley and started to break down into tears. "Why? Why did it have to happen? Why do I feel like a jinx? What if I endanger those I love?" Her back against the wall, she slid down the side until she was sitting. She then put her hands to her face and began sobbing uncontrollably. 

At about 16:35 NST, we all realized Shirley was 45 minutes late coming back.   
"It's not like her to be _this_ late," Magicoddball said with more concern. "I think she's in trouble."   
"I don't know," I stated. "Maybe the line at the food shop got really long. You know how it sells out fast, and it leaves people having to wait—" I had to stop midstream because I had this really weird feeling developing within my own heart.   
"MagicForce, what's the matter?" GotMilk questioned.   
"I'm…not sure. I feel some kind of pain, something hurting in the heart."   
MissLIttle's chia smile was replaced with a face of worry. "Are you having a heart attack? Maybe I can…get…some…I-I'm developing a similar feeling within my heart, too."   
Soon, both Magicoddball and GotMilk also were feeling strange in their own hearts.   
We didn't know what to think at the time because we had never had this happen before.   
I tried to think carefully about the Light Faerie's words. _Take a look somewhere else._ "Somewhere else…a physical location, or…maybe, take a look inside my…heart?" I closed my eyes and felt the pain coming even deeper. "Someone we love is in pain right now."   
Magicoddball closed her eyes and also discovered the deeper pain. "He's right. The only person who could be right now is our owner Shirley. She's in pain."   
GotMilk said, "Is it physical pain?"   
"No, it's more emotional pain. But why? Why would she be in emotional pain? She's normally so high-spirited."   
In a matter of seconds, both Magicoddball and I discovered what she was feeling. "She feels alone, sad, scared, angry," I said slowly.   
"We've got to find her," said MissLIttle. "But, how do we find her?"   
Magicoddball said, "We need to join hooves, wings, and paws together."   
"Good idea," I said. "It's our only chance to find her."   
Soon, all four of us held each other and started glowing in lights representing our own colors.   
I didn't know how we did this, but we soon said one line in a unique chant. "Let our four hearts beat together as one," I started calmly.   
Magicoddball added, "So together we can find our owner and her lost spirit."   
"She's been there for us, cared for us, helped us," said a calm GotMilk.   
MissLIttle completed the chant. "Now, let us be able to help her, for she needs us right now."   
I could feel the others' hearts beating in perfect sync with my own. We were trying to reach out with all our love to find Shirley, and soon we saw an image of her sitting alone in an alley, her crying with much anguish in her soul.   
"I know where that alley is," Magicoddball said with a gasp. "It's not that far from Hubert's Hot Dogs. We've got to find her, fast."   
"Okay," I stated. "I'll take to the sky. The rest of you follow me. MissLIttle, you get on Got Milk. He'll keep up with Magicoddball on the ground."   
"You got it, MagicForce. Let's move."   
We quickly exited the house in order to find our owner. "When I see her," I yelled down, "I'll circle the area. Fair enough?"   
"Right," they answered at the same time.   
I took to the sky quickly and flew high enough to get a good aerial view of the marketplace area. It didn't take too long to locate her, so I flew back to my brother and sisters. "She's over here, follow me!"   
All four of us went to the edge of the alley and saw her crying.   
"She's really upset about something," MissLIttle whispered.   
"Come on," I said quietly. "Let's come up to her slowly."   
All four of us cautiously approached our owner.   
"Sh-Shirley?" I asked in a whisper. "Shirley?"   
She looked up and noticed all four of us. "My friends? I don't understand…how did you all find me?"   
"We felt your heart," GotMilk answered sadly. "It was in a lot of emotional pain."   
"You felt my pain? I don't see how—no, wait, that's it. I remember now. The weird spin at the Wheel of Excitement. She didn't just give us a jar of pickled olives. She also gave us all the ability to feel each other. I wonder if…if I can do this." She then closed her eyes. _I feel all four of your hearts. Can all of you hear me?_   
All four of us gasped.   
"We heard you," said GotMilk, apparently shocked, "but you didn't say anything."   
"Then, we can all make mind-to-mind contact with each other, too," Shirley concluded.   
MissLIttle then held her hand. "Shirley, have we done bad, or—"   
She then hugged the chia. "No, MissLIttle. You haven't done anything wrong, any of you."   
"Shirley is exactly right," said a different voice at the end of the dark alley.   
All five of us saw a bright light and someone emerging from the light.   
"The Light Faerie!" we all said at once.   
"Yes. MagicForce, you and Shirley both heard me say, 'Take a look somewhere else.' That somewhere else was your own hearts, as all of you have discovered. I gave all five of you the abilities of mind-to-mind contact and the ability to feel each other's feelings."   
"There's something I don't understand," Magicoddball said with slight confusion. "Why is Shirley's spirit so down right now?"   
"I can assure you right now, it is _not_ because of any of you. It is something rather tragic that happened in her own world, something so tragic it has haunted her for the last few days."   
The faerie then explained the details about the tragic events that took place.   
Shirley soon started shedding tears again. "I can't get those four frightening images out of my mind! I can't take anymore of this nightmare!"   
The faerie then placed her hands on our owner's shoulders. "Shirley, listen to me. I know for a fact other owners have been affected by what happened, but you can't this haunt you for the rest of your life, not this, or the other two personal losses you yourself have suffered."   
"You…know?"   
"Yes. Your father was lost to you over 13 years ago while your family dog died just months ago. Your four pets—I mean, friends—are your way of trying to heal from those two losses, yet you fear your father hates you for not seeing him in the hospital, and you blame yourself for your dog's passing."   
All four of us were surprised by the Faerie's words.   
"Shirley," Magicoddball said to her, "why didn't you tell us you were suffering so much? You know we're here for you, and you don't have to face anything by yourself. You've always listened to us when we've had problems, and we'll listen to you. If you need a shoulder to cry on—"   
"You've got _four_ shoulders to cry on when you need them," finished MissLIttle.   
"She's right," I said with tears of joy. "You care about us, but we also care about you, too. Now I know why the Faerie said to 'look somewhere else.' It all makes sense now. Our love for each other created the bond between all of us."   
"Yes, MagicForce," said the Light Faerie. "There is no greater force than love. No matter how all five of you are so different in appearance and color, you all share the same heart, soul, and spirit. When one's spirit is down, the others will come to lift that sad spirit. That's why I granted these abilities to all of you. The Faerie Queen had been watching all of you, showing your love for each other. Now, we didn't rig the Wheel of Excitement to land on 'secret item,' but the Queen did say if and when that happened, you were to be given these gifts of love and hope."   
Shirley hugged all four of us and then smiled at the Faerie while drying her eyes. "Thank you, Light Faerie. I promise, these gifts you've given us will be used with love, hope, and kindness, not hate, jealousy, and greed." She then looked at all of us. "I know I'm not alone anymore, and I swear, if I ever have a problem, I know I have at least four friends I can talk to. I'll be honest, I've never been able to talk about how I'm really feeling, and I've been used to crying alone."   
GotMilk said, "There is _no_ way we're gonna let you cry alone. If you need to cry, we'll be there for you. We won't let you forget that…_ever_."   
"Thanks, GotMilk. That means a lot to me. You all are among the best friends I've ever had. I created two of you and adopted two of you from the Neopian Pound. I have two males and two females. I'm glad you are all different colors, because it reminds me that outer appearances mean absolutely _nothing_. I've never believed in judging anyone by what they look like. It's the inside that counts. I'll always be grateful to all of you, plus the friends I have back in my world."   
After she hugged all of us again, I knew the bond between the five of us was going to get stronger…with the love we have for each other. 

**I wrote this story just days after the terrible tragedy because it is my way to express my feelings when things like this happen. The moral of this short story: Just because we all appear different, we all can share the same heart and spirit. God Bless America!**


End file.
